Doll having an improved mouth together with sounding means and lip moving mechanism cooperable therewith



June 1, 1965 R. K. OSTRANDER 3,

DOLL HAVING AN IMPROVED MOUTH TOGETHER WITH SOUNDING THEREWITH MEANS ANDLIP MOVING MECHANISM COOPERABLE Filed March 8, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet lPose/w- K OSWANQFQ ATm/f/YEXS BY A1441. flA; f

June 1965 R. K. OSTRANDER 3,186,126

DOLL HAVING AN IMPROVED MOUTH TOGETHER WITH SOUNDING ANS AND LIP MOVINGMECHANISM COOPERABLE THEREWITH Filed March 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wit/7'L INVENTOR. I04 T H- flag/ 14M 3 [Pose/9r A. Osngwuom I United StatesPatent DOLL HAVING AN IMPROVED MOUTH T0- GE'IHER WITH SGUNDING MEANS ANDLIZ MOVING MECHANISM COOPERABLE THEREWITH Robert K. Ostrander, 497Prospect St., Maplewood, NJ. Filed Mar. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 263,922 18Claims. (Cl. 46118) This invention relates to dolls, and, moreparticularly, is concerned with a doll having an improved mouth. Myinvention further pertains to a doll of the character described whichalso preferably includes a sounding means or a lip moving mechanism, orboth, that cooperate in a novel manner with the improved mouth.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide a doll in which the face wassoft and included a deep natural appearing mouth cavity constituting asac formed integrally with the face and joined to the face along theoutlines of the lips. It further has been proposed to employ inconjunction with such a mouth cavity a lip actuator which constitutedtwo bell crank levers pivotally interconnected within the head behindthe sac and having their forward ends engaging the inside surface of thelips so that when the levers were manipulated (swung with respect to oneanother) they would open or close the lips. In this previously proposedconstruction, means was provided to hold the actuator with the forwardends of the bell crank levers against the inside surfaces of the lips.Such means constituted, for example, a wire or a tube running from theback wall of the mouth sac to the pivot interconnecting the bell cranklevers. However such a holding means tended to distort the soft face,and particularly the lips, so as to give the face an unattractiveappearance. Due to the arcuate movement of the levers the pivot shiftedforwardly or rearwardly and through the holding means uncontrollablydrew in or pushed out the lips when the lip actuator was motivated. Thisdrawback has interfered with the marketing of dolls embodying theforegoing mouth and lip actuator construction.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved arrangement inwhich the aforesaid drawback is obviated.

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll having a deeplyrecessed mouth cavity in combination with a lip actuator, wherein nomeans is employed to hold the actuator with the forward ends of the bellcrank levers against the inside surface of the lips.

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the characterdescribed in which lip actuator means floats within the doll and, morespecifically wherein the forward ends of the bell crank levers floatwithin the head so that they are, in a sense, self-locating and requireno mechanism to positively hold them in place.

In general I carry out the foregoing aspect of my invention by alteringthe shape of the mouth cavity. Heretofore said cavity has comprised asac that was rearwardly elongated and tapered rearwardly from the lipsthe same constituting a well that was molded in one piece with the faceand was joined thereto at the lips. As noted above the rear end of thesac previously was connected by a link to the lip actuator at the pivotbetween the bell crank levers and it was this link that distorted thelips. Pursuant to my invention the link is eliminated 3,186,125 PatentedJune I, 1965 'ice and, instead, the shape of the mouth sac is madefirmly bulbous rather than rearwardly tapering. Phrased differently, themouth sac now is in the shape of a peduncle, that is to say, the sacflares rearwardly from the lips instead of tapering rearwardly, i.e. thefront of the sac is connected to the lips by a constricted zone.Specifically, the mouth sac flares rearwardly from the lips in at leasta vertical plane so that the height between the roof and bottom of thesac is small immediately adjacent the lips and increases rearwardly to aregion of maximum size after which the height reduces as the roof andbottom of the sac merge into the rear end thereof. Thus the mouth sacfirmly bulges upwardly and downwardly in a direction rearwardly of thelips. Thereby the forward ends of the levers constituting the lipactuator and which are located immediately behind the inside surfaces ofthe lips tend to be cammed, i.e. guided, forwardly by the exterior wallof the mouth sac. However this tendency does not hold the lip actuatorin place since the actuator being unconnected to the mouth sac is freeto float in the head and, therefore, is self-locating. Moreover themaximum height of the bulging sac exceeds the distance the forward endsof the lip actuating levers can be spread apart so that although theactuator is floating it can not be accidentally shifted rearwardly todisengage the sac.

I have found that such a bulbous shape of mouth sac has advantages otherthan those deriving from its utilization in combination with a levertype of lip actuator. For example, when such a bulbous mouth sac isprovided a child looking into the interior of the mouth cannot readilysee either the roof or bottom surfaces of the mouth sac. This is duepartly to the fact that both of these surfaces are out of the normalline of vision and further arises from the fact that because thesesurfaces are above and below the mouth opening they are out of the lineof illumination of light present in a room or outdoors so that thesurfaces, being unlit, are dark and not easily seen. Accordingly, inthis respect the mouth of the doll resembles the dark appearance of ahuman oral cavity.

There is a further and very distinct advantage that arises from the useof such a bulbous mouth sac. When a sounding means is associatedtherewith I have discovered that this bulbous shape, despite, orpossibly because of, the soft texture of the walls of the sac, imparts aresonant quality or timbre to any sound which passes therethrough.

It therefore is a further object of my invention to provide a doll ofthe character described having a bulbous mouth sac with which a soundingmeans is associated so that the sound emanating from said means isintroduced into the sac and then permitted to issue from between thelips. It will be observed that such a sound has a pleasing, husky, deeppitched calibre which I believe may be due to the fact that the lowpitched portions of sound issuing from the sounding means areselectively amplified by the sound chamber constituted by the mouth sac.

It is a more specific object of my invention to provide a doll of thecharacter described in which there is associated with a bulbous mouthsac a simple inexpensive type of sounding means such, for instance, asan air actuated noisemaker. Such a sounding means creates anonharmonious harsh mixture of tones and this mixture will be modifiedby the amplifying action of the bulbous sac which tends to enhance thelow pitched tones and to minimize or suppress high pitched tones so thatinstead of the usual raucous noise customarily associated with such anoisemaker a sound of rather pleasant mellow and almost voice-likequality will issue from the parted lips of the doll.

It should be observed at this point that the improvement in soundquality deriving from the use of a bulbous mouth sac is independent ofthe lip actuator. It therefore is within the scope of my invention toemploy a sounding means in combination with a pedunculate type of mouthsac and Without a lip actuator since the sounding means can beactivated, a for example by simply squeezing the torso of the doll,providing that the same is hollow, or the head of the doll if it ishollow. Sufiicient air pressure thereby will be created by a bellowslike action to energize an air actuated sounding means that is mountedon a wall of or has a passageway connected to the bulbous mouth sac.

In a preferred form of my invention both a sounding means and a lipactuator are used inasmuch as they provide a high degree of naturalnesssince the lips will move at the same time that a voice-like sound ofpleasant quality issues from between the parted lips.

Where both a lip articulator and a sounding means are associated with amouth sac still another advantage can be gained if the lips are properlypositioned when the doll is in its unactuated (idle) state and thisadvantage is particularly noticeable where a bulbous mouth sac isemployed to impart a voice-like quality to the sound produced. Moreparticularly, if the lip actuator is so positioned that actuationthereof to open the lips creates an increase in internal torso airpressure which is used to activate the sounding means, initial operationof the lip actuator will build up a pressure within the doll so thatupon opening of the lips a pulse of pressure flows through the soundingmeans and the first sound which is heard will resemble a stopped(explosive) labial consonant. This gives rise to a simulation of speech.Phrased differently, the first sound that will be heard will appear toresemble the first syllable of a word which starts with a stopped labialconsonant. The particular stopped labial consonant that is heard willdepend upon the relative position of the closed lips. Thereafter whenthe lip actuator is released and is biased back to its idle conditionand if the sounding means will generate a sound upon the intake of airthrough the mouth and mouth cavity a second syllable will be created.

Also it is within the scope of my invention to connect to the bulboussac a sounding mechanism which in itself will create articulations overand above the dual articulation brought into play by first squeezing andthen releasing the lip actuator or a sounding mechanism which willcreate actual speech as by employment of a tape or phonograph.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part willbe pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will beexemplified in the devices hereinafter described and of which the scopeof application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown various possibleembodiments of my invention,

FIG. 1 is a front fragmentary perspective view of a dolls head and uppertorso which include a mouth sac, a lip actuator and a sounding meansconstituted and correlated in accordance with my invention, the samebeing illustrated with the lip actuator idle and the lips closed;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating the torso and faceas they appear after the lip actuator has been actuated to part thelips;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lip actuator as it appears whenremoved from the doll;

FIG. 4 is a vertical front-to-back fragmentary en- 4 larged sectionalview of the dolls head, the same being taken through the center of theclosed lips of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a View similar to FIG. 4, but taken through the parted lips ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view through the center of the lips ofthe doll with the mouth sac illustrated in its as-molded form beforebeing altered to a vertically bulged shape;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 5 of a doll embodying a modified formof my invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the lip actuator used in the doll ofFIG. 8, the same being shown apart from the doll but with the mouth sacillustrated in phantom (dot-and-dash) lines;

, FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 10-1tof FIG. 8; and

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 1111 ofFIG. 10.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS.1-7, the reference numeral 10 denotes a doll which is of conventionalconstruction except for the bulging configuration of the mouth sac andexcept for the cooperation of the lip actuator and the sounding meanswith said sac.

Said doll includes a hollow torso 12 of standard .design on theopen-ended neck 14 of which a hollow head 16 is mounted. The torso ismade of a flexible material, for example, natural or artificial rubberor polyvinyl chloride so that it can be partially collapsed by squeezingand may be fabricated in any customary manner, e.g. by slush orinjection molding. The material is soft and resilient whereby it willtend to spring back to its as-molded shape after squeezing. Thisconstruction is preferable in the form of the invention being describedsince the body is intended to function as a hollow chamber having atleast one resilient wall that can be squeezed for the purpose ofoperating the lip actuator as well as for the purpose of operating thesounding means. It will be appreciated that extreme flexibility is notneeded for these purposes and it will suflice if the torso is readilyyieldable to a childs finger pressure.

The torso is, of course, provided with the usual arms and legs which maybe connected thereto in any suitable fashion.

The head 16 is molded from a soft flexible resilient material such, forinstance, as polyvinyl chloride. I prefer to make the head by slushmolding from a plastisol since not only does this permit me to secure askin which 7 is warm and realistic to the touch and closely sirnulafiveof a childs face, but it also enables me to obtain a dead soft qualityfor the skin of the dolls head, thus being a flexible resilient qualitythat enables the skin to be deformed with great ease upon theapplication of an external force but causes the skin to return to itsoriginal as-molded shape when such force is released. Such dead softquality permits ready movement of the lips upon energization of the lipactuator and its use for this purpose is known to the art.

The head includes the usual features, to wit, eyes 18 in eye sockets, anose 20 and cars 22 all of conventional configuration and construction.The head further includes a pair of lips constituting an upper lip 24and a lower lip 26. These lips are in the shape of human lips andtherefore protrude slightly along the lip lines and are separate fromone another except at the corners of the mouth. The lips preferably aremolded in parted condition, as shown in FIG. 7, and, optionally, toprovide a somewhat piquant expression the lower lip is so molded as tobe displaced slightly to the rear of the upper lip as can be seen frominspection of this figure.

Molded in one piece with the head and with its forward edges joinedintegrally with the rear edges of the lips is a hollow mouth sac 28which, accordingly, is likewise of dead soft quality. Said sac extendsrearwardly from the open forward end at the lips into the interior ofthe hollow head. The surface of the sac which faces the interior of thehead will hereinafter be referred to as the exterior surface of the sacwhile the surface of the sac which faces and defines the mouth cavitywill be referred to as the interior surface of the sac.

In accordance with a principal phase of my invention the mouth sac 28 isof a bulbous contour with the neck, i.e. reduced forward open end of thesac, adjacent and joined to the lips so that the bulbous profile ineffect consists of walls that flare rearwardly from the inner surfacesof the lips. In the preferred form of my invention wherein the lipactuator is used, the rearward flaring takes place in a verticaldirection, or, in other words, the roof and base of the mouth sac flareaway from one another in a direction rearwardly of the lips until saidroof and base of the sac converge to define a rear end for the sac.

In its as-molded shape the hollow sac 28 may or may not have the desiredbulbous (upwardly and downwardly bulging) configuration. As shown inFIG. 7 said sac is essentially nonbulbous as molded in the sense thatits vertical dimensions from its neck to its rear end are approximatelythe same, there being only a mild constriction adjacent the lips. Themaximum enlargement illustrated in the as-molded condition of the sac isonly about 50% greater than the minimum vertical dimension, that is tosay the maximum vertical dimension of the sac about half-way between thefront and rear (thereof is only about 50% greater than the verticaldistance between the top and the bottom of the sac at the lips. This isnot sufficiently bulbous, nor is the sac sufficiently firm, to enablethe lip actuator to automatically seat itself in proper position nor isit suficiently boulbous to obtain the resonance for deepening the dollsvoice. Therefore to procure the desirable bulbous configuration I placea bulging and firming insert within the sac 28.

In the form of my invention being described said insert constitutes aleaf spring 343, to wit, a strip of spring steel stock which in relaxedcondition is roughly C-shaped in profile. Specifically, the leaf springin its unstressed state has an approximately circular segment extendingover about 270, said segment terminating in forwardly extending reaches32 that have outwardly concave surfaces facing (the upper and lowerinterior surfaces of the sac 28 immediately rearwardly of the lips.

The spring 3i? is weak enough to permit the reaches 32 to be quiteeasily flexed into contact with one another. However the spring issufiiciently strong to spread and firm the constricted neck of the sacwhen no other forces are applied to the sac, that is to say, when thelip actuator permits the lips to move apart.

The leaf spring 39 is inserted into the sac to engage the top and bottomWalls and rear end thereof and to spread the sac into a firm bulbousshape as shown in FIG. 5. In this shape the maximum vertical dimensionof the sac is approximately at least double the vertical dimension ofthe sac adjacent the lips; but what is of more impontance there is amarked firm slope on the exterior surface of the sac adjacent the lipswhereby to obtain a forward camming, i.e. guiding, action on the forwardends of the lip actuator so that the same will automatically floatforwardly into a position in which the forward ends of the actuator arenear the inside surfaces of the lips without exerting any rearwardpulling force on the lips.

Since the sides of the leaf spring are open, the sides of the sac arenot engaged thereby and the insertion of the leaf spring into the sacmildly stretches the side walls of the sac. It is believed that theconsequent lateral semiflattening (increase in radius of curvature) ofthe side walls of the sac has a desirable efiect on the tonal quality ofthe sound emanating from the sound maker.

Although the leaf spring will tend to remain in its centered position inthe sac, as illustrated, with the tips of the reaches 32 behind the lipsand thereby not readily visible to a child, it is preferred to includemeans for preventing the leaf spring from being deliberately displacedif a child, for example, should poke an implement into the dolls month.For this purpose I provide a rivet 34 the head of which is locatedwithin the mouth and the shank of which extends through registeredopenings in the leaf spring and rear end of the mouth sac so that theshank projects into the hollow interior of the head. The rivet is heldin place by a speed nut, i.e. a friction nut, 35 engaging the projectingrear end of the rivet.

As indicated previously, I also provide a sounding means having a soundpassageway leading to the mouth cavity so that the sound issuing fromthe sounding means will be improved in timbre by the acoustical featuresof the hollow bulbous sac these constituting, firstly, the bulbous shapeof the sac which acts as a resounding or amplifying chamber and,probably secondly, the mildly stretched side walls 38 which tend to actas elastic stretched membranes, i.e. somewhat like tympans or, in otherwords, are tympanoidal.

The sounding means can be mounted directly on the sac itself so that thesound issues therefrom directly into the mouth cavity, or the soundingmeans may be spaced from the mouth cavity and connected to the sac, asby a conduit. In either event the sound created by the sounding meanswill pass into the bulbous mouth cavity where it will be rendered moremellow and therefore more human-like in quality and thereafter willissue from between the parted lips of the doll whereby the doll actuallyseems to be speaking.

In the illustrated form of my invention I have shown the sounding meansmounted directly on the sac and consisting of a simple noisemaker 40.Such noise-makers are particularly iuexpensvie, but ordinarily produce araucous sound which is neither particularly pleasing to the ear norsimulative of a human voice. However with the assistance of the resonantbulbous tympanoidal chamber provided by the mouth sac 28, as shaped bythe spring 39, this raucous sound is altered to instill a pleasantquality thereto whereby from such an inexpensive noisemaker a human-likevoice ultimately will issue through the parted lips of the doll.

Specifically, the noisemaker 40 is of the reed type and consists of atubular casing 42 having one externally annularly grooved end fastenedin an aperture 44 provided in a side wall 38 of the bulbous sac 28.Housed within the casing is a conventional reed type squawkerconsisting, for example, of a metal reed so supported at its center overa boat-shaped elongated shell that the ends of the reed are free tovibrate. When air is passed through a tube containing such a reed oneend or the other or" the reed will vibrate depending upon the directionof passage of air. Thus one sound will be created by one end of the reedupon inhaling movement of air through the dolls mouth and the other endof the reed will be actuated by exhaling of air through the dolls mouth.

The bulging sac 28 is imperforate except for the mouth opening betweenthe lips and except for the aperture 44 so that when the torso or headof the doll is squeezed air from within the doll will pass through thenoisemaker in an exhaling direction and when the torso (or head) isreleased air will pass in an inhaling direction through the noisemakerback into the doll. Y

As I have pointed out previously the chamber formed by the bulginghollow mouth sac acts to improve and deepen the quality of the raucoussound generated by the noisemaker. I believe this is due in part tosuperior amplification by the chamber of the lower end of the spectrumof noise created by the noisemaker and particularly to the suppressionor minimization of the higher end of the spectrum of such noise so that,as a result, a rather pleasing quality of voice issues from between thedolls lips. However this improvement may be employed even greens wherethe sounding mechanism is not a noisemaker, i.e. where a soundmaker isutilized which produces single or plural tones as distinguished fromnoise or where the soundmaker is such as to produce a song or speech. Inall of these last named cases the resonant quality and soft texture ofthe chamber and the tympanoidal quality of at least one of the walls ofthe bulbous sac exert an improving infiuence on the quality of sound,softening harsh portions and enhancing the lower range of the soundspectrum so that a most pleasing voice is heard.

In the form of my invention being described the lips are urged by thereaches 32 of the leaf spring into a rather widely parted position. Inthe fully opened position of the lips which they would assume under theinfluence of the leaf spring were no other forces exerted thereon, thelips would be spread apart slightly more, e.g. about As" more dependingupon the size of the dolls head, than would seem to be natural. Howeverthe lip actuator now to be described biases the lips to closed position,the bias being sufficiently strong to overcome the opening bias of theleaf spring 39 so that when the lip actuator is idle the lips will beclosed (as shown in FIG. 4) and when the lip actuator is moved to itsother extreme (FIG. the lips will open to the maximum extent permittedby said actuator, being so urged by the leaf spring 39. This latterposition is shown in FIG. 5. Attention is directed to the fact that whenthe lip actuator is manipulated to spread its forward ends to theirmaximum extent as shown in FIG. 5, said ends are spaced apart a distanceless than the maximum vertical dimension of the bulging sac so that theactuator cannot slip rearwardly off the sac.

The lip actuator which is, in general, referred to by the referencenumeral 46 and which is shown apart from the doll in FIG. 3, essentiallycomprises two pivotally interconnected bell crank levers 48, 5G. Therear bell crank lever 48 includes a vertical reach 52 terminating in amanipulatable handle 54 which, for convenience, may be slightly widerthan the reach 52. Said bell crank lever 48 further includes a forwardlyextending horizontal reach 56 which terminates in a downwardly andforwardly ex tending tip (forward end) 58. The tip 58 is transverselyelongated and is provided with a lower slightly downwardly convex edgelirthe outer ends of which have rearwarclly extending tabs 62. Thedistance between the tabs is slightly in excess of the side-to-sideexternal dimension of the bulging sac 28. V V

The front bell crank lever 59 includes a generally vertical reach 64.Actually this reach has a rearward slope to enable said reach toconverge toward the rear bell crank lever 48 adjacent the pivotalinterconnection of the two arms. The lower end of the reach 64terminates in a manipulatable broadened handle 66. The front bell cranklever '50 also has a forwardly extending horizontal reach 68 terminatingin a forwardly and upwardly sloping tip (forward end) 70 Said tip at itsextremity is transversely elongated and is formed with an upper slightlydownwardly concave edge 72 the outer ends of which are provided withrearwardly extending tabs 74. The spacing between the tabs 74 is thesame as that between the tabs 62. Optionally the tabs 62, 74 can beomitted since the concave shapes of the edges 69, 72 tends to preventlateral shifting of the lip actuator relative to the bulging sac.

The two bell crank levers are suitably inter-connected by pivotal meansfor relative rotation about a transversely disposed horizontal axis tothe rear of the bulging sac 28. Desirably, although not necessarily,said horizontal axis is approximately centered with respect to the topand bottom of the sac. In the preferred form of my invention saidhorizontal axis is substantially perpendicular to the side walls of thesac.

The pivotal means may simply constitute a pinned connection joining thetwo bell crank levers; however, to reduce the number of parts employed Iutilize instead a trunnion type of pivotal connection. Morespecifically, the vertical reach 52 of the rear bell crank lever 48 isformed at the zone where the pivotal connection is to be located with apair of forwardly extending fingers '76 one at each side of said reach.Said fingers are provided with transversely registered openings. Thezone of the front bell crank lever 59 between the'vertical reach 64 andthe horizontal reach 68 is formed with a rearwardly and upwardly offsetjog 78 from the opposite edges of which integral stub trunnions 86extend. These trunnions are rotatably received in the openings in thefingers 76 to provide the desired pivotal interconnection.

For the purpose of economy and simplicity of fabrication the two bellcrank levers are fashioned from sheet metal and may be provided atvarious points along their lengths with stiffening ribs 82.

The horizontal reach 56 of the rear bell crank lever extends forwardlyover the top of the mouth sac and the horizontal reach 68 of the frontbell crank arm extends forwardly beneath the bottom of the mouth sac.The bell crank levers are so configured that when the manipulativehandles 54, are respectively adjacent the interior surfaces of the frontand back of the dolls torso the tips (forward ends) 58, 7b of the twobell crank levers will squeeze the lips into closed position (as shownin FIG. 4). However when the torso is squeezed in a front-to-backdirection as shown in FIG. 2 so that the manipulative handles areshifted toward one another the tips of the bell crank levers will moveapart permitting the leaf spring 36 to open the lips (as shown in FIG.5)- Thus the inner surfaces of the lips will follow the upper and loweredges of the forward ends of the bell crank arms. When the handles 54,66 touch one another the space between the forward ends of the bellcrank levers is less than the maximum height of the bulging sac.

Means is included to bias the manipulative handles 54, 66 apart (i.e.bias the forward ends 58, 79 together) with a force sufficient toovercome the opening bias of the leaf spring 39. Said means simplycomprises a second leaf spring 84 having its lower end anchored, as byspot welding, to the forward surface of the manipulative handle 54. Saidleaf spring is inclined upwardly and for- Wardly and has its forwardedge bearing against an intermediate portion of the upwardly andrearwardly inclined vertical reach of the bell crank lever 50, therebyurging said vertical reach away from the vertical reach 52 and thuscausing the tips 58, to close the dolls lips when no pressure is exertedon the handles 54, 66.

Attention is directed to FIG. 4. It there will be seen that, due to theC-shape of the leaf spring 30 and the outwardly concave shape of thereaches 32, the forward portions of the firmed external surface of thesac at the top and bottom thereof are sloped quite steeply forwardly atan angle, for example, of approximately 45. The tips 58, 7% of the lipactuator rest on these firm sloped external surfaces and therefore tendto be biased or guided forwardly into engagement with the inside surfaceof the lips. However this action is, so far as the lip actuator isconcerned, floating, that is to say there is no positive or directconnection between the lip actuator and the mouth sac. Indeed there maybe, as shown, narrow spaces between the tips of the lip actuator and theinside surfaces of the lips, and the tips of the lip actuator may belocated anywhere within these spaces. The firm sloping surfaces of theforward portions of the sac automatically will guide the lip actuator toapproximately the proper position for correct actuation, Any deviationfrom exactly correct position will be unnoticeable and since the lipactuator is free to move about to a limited extent, it willautomatically seat itself in correct position upon handling of the doll.Indeed, correct position is a misnomer s nce the doll will worksatisfactorily so long as the tips of the bell crank levers are near,although not against, the inside surface of the lips.

To operate the doll a child simply squeezes the torso from the front andback.

Before squeezing, the lips of the doll are closed (as shown in FIG. 1)and the mouth of the bulging sac is held closed by the action of thespring 84 through the bell crank levers. As soon as the bell crankhandles are squeezed together the force of the spring 84 is overcome andthe spring 30 is permitted to open the lips.

As the torso of the doll initially is squeezed, air pressure will bebuilt up internally so that as the lips open a pulse of air will passthrough the noisemaker 40, cansing a steep-fronted wave of sound to becreated by the noisemaker. This resembles the sound of a stopped labialconsonant. Thereafter if the squeezing is continued, the noisemaker willcontinue to generate an exhale sound. Such sound passes from thenoisemaker into the mouth cavity defined by the resonant bulboustympanoidal sac where, after amelioration of its quality, it will passout through the parted lips of the doll, The continually changingposition of the lips and the consequent continually changing shape ofthe mouth cavity during the generation of the exhale sound modifies thatsound as it issues from between the lips of the doll and such continuous modification causes the final sound to resemble a human voicewith its constantly changing inflections and tonal qualities.

Releasing the squeezed together handles of the bell crank levers closesthe lips against the action of the spring 39 and during the closingaction draws in air through the mouth to create another (inhale) soundwhich likewise passes from the noisemaker through the mouth sac and outof the still parted dolls lips, being cut off when the lips close.Movement of the lips during closing also modifies the inhale sound ofthe noisemaker, so that it too in conjunction with the changing shape ofthe mouth cavity creates a resemblance to a human voice.

In the just described form of my invention 1 have shown the bulbousmouth sac used to define a hollow resonant mouth cavity which improvesthe tonal quality of the sound generated by the soundmaker, said sacbeing employed in cooperation with a lip actuator including a pair ofnon-crossed bell crank levers that bias the lips to closed position sothat when the handle ends of the levers are squeezed together the mouthis permitted to open. In the form of my invention illustrated in FIGS.8-11 I have shown how the bulbous mouth sac can be differently employedwithout utilizing said sac as a hollow resonant chamber and at the sametime have illustrated the sac in connection with a lip'actuatorincluding a crossed (as distinct from non-crossed) pair of bell cranklevers so that upon actuation of the lip actuator the lips are movedfrom a normally open to a closed position; said lips resume theirnormally open position when the lip actuator is released.

The doll in which this modified form of my invention is incorporated isthe same as the doll 1i) and includes a face with lips 24, 26 and amouth sac 28, all having an as-molded configuration such as shown inFIG. 7. However, instead of employing an open-sided leaf spring such asthe circular spring 39 to bulge the sac, I place a firming solid insert86 within the mouth sac to bulge the same. The insert is approximatelyof the shape of a prolate spheroid having a forward truncated end 88facing the lips.

The insert has a volume which is slightly larger than the volume of thecorresponding portion of the sac so that when the insert is thrust intothe sac between the lips it will completely fill and slightly expand theassociated portion of the sac and thereby cause this portion of the sacto assume a shape similar to but larger than (by the thickness of thesac) the shape of the insert. Hence the sac takes on a firm bulbousshape. It swells both vertically and horizontally. It should be pointedout that the horizontal, i.e. transverse, swelling is not necessary tomy invention and, if desired, the insert may be vertically truncated atboth sides, making certain however that its volume is slightly in excessof the volume 16 of the corresponding portion of the sac so that thisportion will be completely filled by the insert. The bulbous shape thesac is caused to assume by insertion of the insort is such that theforward exterior surfaces of the sac converge forwardly and downwardlyfor cooperation with a lip actuator.

Although the insert tends to hold its place securely, that is to say isnot easily displaced by a child poking around in the mouth cavity withan implement, it is nevertheless advantageous to anchor the same inposition and for this purpose the insert is horizontally centrally boredin a front-to-back direction to receive a tube 99 the rear end of whichpasses through the rear end of the sac and into the open hollow interiorof the dolls head. Annular flanges 92 formed on the exterior of the tubeengage the interior and exterior surfaces of the sac where it is piercedby the tube to prevent longitudinal movement of the tube and the insertwhich is constricted tightly about it.

Optionally a soundmaker may be used with the sac 28 of this modifiedform of my invention, the same, for example, constituting a reed typenoisemaker 94 which is inserted into the open front end of the tube.Since the bulbous sac is almost wholly filled by the solid insert thequality of the sound generated by the noisemaker 94 is not markedlyimproved by said sac. But because the noisemaker is in communicationwith the sac, opening as it does directly into the sac, the soundgenerated thereby will pass out through the lips of the doll in arealistic manner.

The lip actuator for the insert expanded sac 23 is denoted by thereference numeral 96, the same being illustrated apart from the doll(with the sac 28 shown in phantom lines) in FIG. 9. Said actuatorconstitutes a pair of crossed bell crank levers 98, 10b. The lever 98includes a vertical reach 102 and a horizontal reach 384. The lever 11%includes a vertical reach 166 and a horizontal reach 193. The twovertical reaches are fiat and their planes are juxtaposed and extend ina frontto-back direction within the doll. These reaches M2, 1% arepivotally inter-connected by a horizontal pin 112 which is approximatelyat the level of the center of the sac although this is not critical. Thevertical and horizontal reaches are located to one side of the sac, e.g.the left side as viewed from the top of the doll (see FIG. 10).

At its front end the horizontal reach 194 carries an integraltransversely extending horizontal bar 114 which passes below the sacadjacent the zone where the sac is unitarily joined to the lower lip. Atits front end the horizontal reach ltl carries an integral transverselyextending horizontal bar 116 which passes above the sac adjacent thezone where the sac is unitarily joined to the upper lip. The lower bar114 has a slightly concave upper edge and the upper bar 116 has aslightly concave lower edge. Both bars are located adjacent but nottouching the inside surface of the lips and are positioned to contactthe forwardly tapering upper and lower exterior surfaces of the bulboussac so that the lip actuator floats in place and tends to ride forwardlyon the sac. The actuator will not distort the shape of the mouth whenmanipulated since it has no positive connection with the sac and thusthe actuator will automatically maintain itself in position.

The maximum vertical dimension of the exterior surface of the sac isless than the distance between the facing edges of the transverse bars114, 116 when said bars are spaced apart the maximum permissibledistance allowed by the construction of the bell crank levers (abutmentor" the lever handles against one another). The same features hold trueof the first described form of my invention. This relative dimensioningof the parts prevents the lip actuator from becoming accidentallydisengaged from the sac. Sidewise movement of the lip actuator relativeto the sac is inhibited by the concave 1 1 shape of the surfaces of thebars which face the external surface of the sac.

The lower ends of the two vertical reaches m2, 106 are turned at rightangles to said reaches in order to form manipulatable handles 118, 12%which are designed to lie adjacent the internal surfaces of the torso atthe back and abdomen respectively.

The insert 86 is fabricated from an elastomeric material such, forinstance, as natural or artificial soft rubber or foam rubber andtherefore exerts a biasing action tending to hold the lips open and alsospreading apart the transverse bars 114, 116 so as to spread apart thehandles 118, 120.

When the handles are squeezed together by squeezing the dolls torso thelip actuator will move the lips from their normally open position intowhich they are biased by the insert 86 to a closed position andconcurrently with such closing movement will by the bellows action ofthe dolls torso force air through the tube 90 and noisemaker 94 togenerate a sound. When the torso is released the insert 86 will spreadthe actuator handles 113, 120 apart and will reopen the lips.Concurrently therewith air will be drawn into the torso of the dollthrough the tube 9t) and noisemaker 94 so as to cause the doll to uttera second sound.

It thus will be seen that I have provided devices which achieve theseveral objects of my invention, and which are well adapted to meet theconditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiments set forth, it isto be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent,

1. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of soft flexibleresilient material, said face including a pair of spread lips and aninternal hollowed sac in one piece with the face and having the forwardportion thereof integrally joined to the lips, resilient firming insertmeans within the sac, said insert means being constructed, shaped anddimensioned to engage the top and bottom inner surfaces of the sac fromthe front to the back thereof so as to spread the sac and thereby impartto the sac a firm bulbous configuration at least in a vertical planesuch that the roof and bottom of the sac flare away from one anotherrearwardlyfrom the lips, a lip actuator including a pair of elementsextending transversely across the sac adjacent the inside surfaces ofthe lips with one of the elements immediately above and one of theelements immediately below the sac, and manually manipulatable meansinterconnected with said elements to move said elements toward and awayfrom one another, said manually manipulatable means being restricted inits element opening movement to space the elements apart a distance lessthan the maximum vertical height of the sac whereby the elements arecaptively retained be tween the inside surfaces of the lips and themaximum vertical height of the sac.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the resilient firminginsert means is solid.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the resilient firminginsert means is hollow.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the resilient firminginsert means is spheroidal.

12 pair of spread lips and an internal hollowed sac in one piece withthe face and having the forward portion thereof integrally joined to thelips, said spread lips providing a passageway from the sac to theatmosphere, said sac having a bulbous configuration flaring rearwardlyfrom an open end at the lips, and a soundmaker having a sound passagewayconnected to a portion of the interior of the bulbous sac rearwardly ofthe open end of the sac.

8. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of soft flexibleresilient material, said face including a pair of spread lips and aninternal hollowed sac in one piece with the face and having the forwardportion thereof integrally joined to the lips, resilient firming insertmeans within the sac, said insert means being constructed, shaped anddimensioned to engage the top and bottom inner surfaces of the sac fromthe front to the back thereof so as to spread the sac and thereby impartto the sac a firm bulbous configuration at least in a vertical planesuch that the roof and bottom of the sac flare away from one anotherrearwardly from the lips, a lip actuator including a pair of elementsextending transversely across the sac adjacent the inside surfaces ofthe lips with one of the elements immediately above and one of theelements immediately below the sac, and manually manipulatable meansinterconnecting with said elements to move said elements toward and awayfrom one another, said manually manipulatable means being restricted inits element opening movement to space the elements apart a distance lessthan the maximum vertical height of the sac whereby the elements arecaptively retained between the inside surfaces of the lips and themaximum vertical height of the sac, said lip actuator floating withinthe doll and having said elements guided forwardly toward the insidesurfaces of the lips by the flaring configuration of the forward portionof the sac.

9. in combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of soft flexibleresilient material, said face including a pair of spread lips and aninternal hollowed sac in one piece with the face and having the forwardportion thereof integrally joined to the lips, resilient firming insertmeans within the sac, said insert means being constructed, shaped anddimensioned to engage the top and bottom inner surfaces of the sac fromthe front to the back thereof so as to spread the sac and thereby impartto the sac a firm bulbous configuration at least in a vertical planesuch that the roof and bottom of the sac flare away from one anotherrearwardly from the lips, a lip actuator including a pair of elementsextending transversely across the sac adjacent the inside surfaces ofthe lips with one of the elements immediately above and one of theelements immediately below the sac, manually manipulatable meansinterconnected with said elements to move said elements toward and awayfrom one another, said manualiy manipulatable means being restricted inits element opening movement to space the elements apart a distance lessthan the maximum vertical height of the sac whereby the elements arecaptively retained between the inside surfaces of the lips and themaximum vertical height of the sac, and means biasing the elementstoward one another with sutficient force to close the lips against theresiliency of the insert.

it). A combination as set forth in claim wherein the sac has an open endat the lips, and wherein a soundmaker is provided within the doll havinga sound passageway connected to a portion of the interior of the bulboussac rearwardly of the open end of the sac.

11. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of softflexible resilient material, said face including a pair of spread lipsand an internal hollowed sac in one piece with the face and having theforward portion thereof integrally joined to the lips, resilient firminginsert means within the sac, said insert means being constructed, shapedand dimensioned to engage the top and bottom inner surfaces of the sacfrom the front to the back thereof so as to spread the sac and therebyimpart to 13 the sac a firm bulbous configuration at least in a verticaplane such that the roof and bottom of the sac flare away from oneanother rearwardly from the lips, a lip actuator including a pair ofelements extending transversely across the sac adjacent the insidesurfaces of the lips with one of the elements immediately above and oneof the elements immediately below the sac, said elements having matchedsides facing the sac, and manually manipulatable means interconnectedwith said elements to move said elements toward and away from oneanother, said manually manipulatable means being restricted in itselement opening movement to space the elements apart a distance lessthan the maximum vertical height of the sac whereby the elements arecaptively retained between the inside surfaces of the lips and themaximum vertical height of the sac.

12. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of softflexible resilient material, said face including a pair of spread lipsand an internal hollowed sac in one piece with the face and having theforward portion thereof integrally joined to the lips, resilient firminginsert means within the sac, said insert means being constructed, shapedand dimensioned to engage the top and bottom inner surfaces of the sacfrom the front to the back thereof so as to spread the sac and therebyimpart to the sac a firm bulbous configuration at least in a verticalplane such that the roof and bottom of the sac flare away from oneanother rearwardly from the lips, a lip actuator including a pair ofelements extending transversely across the sac adjacent the insidesurfaces of the lips with one of the elements immediately above and oneof the elements immediately below the sac, and manually manipulatableuncrossed pivotally interconnected bell crank levers carrying saidelements to move said ele ments toward and away from one another, saidbell crank levers being restricted in their element opening movement tospace the elements apart a distance less than the maximum verticalheight of the sac whereby the elements are captively retained betweenthe inside surfaces of the lips and the maximum vertical height of thesac.

13. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of softflexible resilient material, said face including a pair of spread lipsand an internal hollowed sac in one piece with the face and having theforward portion thereof integrally joined to the lips, hollow resilientfirming insert means within the sac, said insert means beingconstructed, shaped and dimensioned to engage the top and bottom innersurfaces of the sac from the front to the back thereof so as to spreadthe sac and thereby impart to the sac a firm bulbous configuration atleast in a vertical plane such that the roof and bottom of the sac flareaway from one another rearwardly from the lips, said sac having an openend at the lips, a lip actuator including a pair of elements extendingtransversely across the sac adjacent the inside surfaces of the lipswith one of the elements immediately above and one of the elementsimmediately below the sac, manually manipulatable means interconnectedwith said elements to move said elements toward and away from oneanother, said manually manipulatable means being restricted in itselement opening movement to space the elements apart a distance lessthan the maximum vertical height of the sac whereby the elements arecaptively retained between the inside surfaces of the lips and themaximum vertical height of the sac, and a soundmaker having a soundpassageway connected to a portion of the interior of the bulbous sac sacrearwardly of the open end of the sac.

14. A combination as set forth in claim 13 wherein the sac has at leastone stretched tympanoidal side wall.

15. A combination as set forth in claim 13 wherein the sac has at leastone pair of opposed stretched tympanoidal side walls.

16. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of softflexible material, said face including a pair of lips biased to an openposition, an internal hollowed sac in one piece with the face and havingthe forward portion thereof integrally joined to the lips, said sachaving a bulbous configuration flaring rearwardly from an open end atthe lips, a lip actuator including a pair of elements extendingtransversely across the sac adjacent the inside surfaces of the lips,manually manipulatable actuating means interconnected with said elementsto move said elements toward and away from one another, means biasingthe elements toward one another with sufficient force to close the lips,said doll including a body with a hollow chamber having at least oneresilient wall which is forced inwardly to reduce the volume of thechamber when the actuating means is manipulated to open the lips, saidsac having a bulbous configuration flaring rearwardly from an open endat the lips and an air actuated sounding means within the body andhaving a sound passageway connected to a portion of the interior of thebulbous sac rearwardly of the open end of the sac, said sounding meansbeing connected to the hollow chamber so as to be actuated when thevolume of the chamber is reduced, whereby when the actuating means ismanipulated to open the lips a stopped labial consonantal sound willissue from between the dolls lips.

17. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of softflexible material, said face including a pair of separate lips, manuallymanipulatable actuating means including means located internally of thehead for opening and closing the lips, a hollowed sac within the head inone piece with the face and having the forward portion thereofintegrally joined to the lips, said sac at least in vertical planehaving a firm bulbous configuration flaring rearwardly from an open endat the lips, and the configuration of the sac being varied as the lipsopen and close, said manually manipulatable actuating means including apair of elements movable toward and away from one another and extendingtransversely across the sac adjacent the inside surfaces of the lipswith one of the elements immediately above and one of the elementsimmediately below the sac, said manually manipulatable actuating meansbeing restricted in its element opening movement to space the elementsapart a distance less than the maximum vertical height of the sacwhereby the elements are captively retained between the inside surfacesof the lips and the maximum vertical height of the sac, said doll havinga hollow chamber with at least one resilient wall the position of whichis altered when the actuating means is manipulated to move the lips, andan air actuating sounding means within the body and having a soundpassageway connected to a portion of the interior of the bulbous sacrearwardly of the open end of the sac, said sounding means beingconnected to the hollow chamber so as to be actuated when the volume ofthe chamber is changed, so that when the manually manipulatable means isactuated a sound is generated by the soundmaker and is introduced intothe sac from which it passes out from between the lips of the doll, saidsound being modulated by the changing position of the lips and thechanging configuration of the sac.

18. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of softflexible material, said face including a pair of separate lips, manuallymanipulatable actuating means including means located internally of thehead for opening and closing the lips, a hollow sac within the head inone piece with the face and having the month thereof integrally joinedto the lips, and the configuration of the sac being varied as the lipsopen and close, said doll having a hollow chamber with at least oneresilient wall the position of which is altered when the actuating meansis manipulated to move the lips, said sac having a bulbous configurationflaring rearwardly from an open end at the lips and air actuatingsounding means within the body and having a sound passageway connectedto a portion of the interior of the bulbous sac rearwardly of the openend of the sac, said sounding means being con- 15' 16 nected to thehollow chamber so asto be actuated when 2,700,846 2/55 Coe 46-171 X thevolume of the chambe; is changed, so that when the 2,778,155 l/ 57Ostrander 46171 manually Inanipulatable means is actuated a sound isgen- 3,005,283 10/ 61 Cohn 46-171 X erated by the soundmaker and isintroduced into the sac 3,053,008 9/62 Pelunis 46-119 from which itpasses out from between the lips of the 5 3,054,215 9/62 Neumann 461l8doll, said sound being modulated by the changing posi- 3,060,631 10/62Collischan 46-118 tion of the lips and the changing configuration of thesac. 3,093,928 6/63 Ostrander 46-417 FOREIGN PATENTS 948,367 1/49France.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 2,098,92511/37 Schaeffer 46-418 RICHARD c. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. 2,697,30312/54 Maynard 46-171

13. IN COMBINATION IN A DOLL, A DOLL''S HEAD HAVING A FACE OF SLOTFLEXIBLE RESILIENT MATERIAL, SAID FACE INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPREAD LIPSAND AN INTERNAL HOLLOWED SAC IN ONE PIECE WITH THE FACE AND HAVING THEFORWARD PORTION THEREOF INTEGRALLY JOINED TO THE LIPS, HOLLOW RESILIENTFIRMING INSERT MEANS WITHIN THE SAC, SAIDD INSERT MEANS BEINGCONSTRUCTED, SHAPED AND DIMENSIONED TO ENGAGE THE TOP AND BOTTOM INNERSURFACES OF THE SAC FROM THE FRONT TO THE BACK THEREOF SO AS TO SPREADTHE SAC AND THEREBY IMPART OF THE SAC A FIRM BULBOUS CONFIGURATION ATLEAST IN A VERTICAL PLANE SUCH THAT THE ROOF AND BOTTOM OF THE SAC FLAREAWAY FROM ONE ANOTHER REARWARDLY FROM THE LIPS, SAID SAC HAVING AN OPENEND AT THE LIPS, A LIP ACTUATOR INCLUDING A PAIR OF ELEMENTS EXTENDINGTRANSVERSELY ACROSS THE SAC ADJACENT THE INSIDE SURFACES OF THE LIPSWITH ONE OF THE ELEMENTS IMMEDIATELY ABOVE AND ONE OF THE ELEMENTSIMMEDIATELY BELOW THE SAC, MANUALLY MANIPULATABLE MEANS INTERCONNECTEDWITH SAID ELEMENTS TO MOVE SAID ELEMENTS TOWARD AND AWAY FROM ONEANOTHER, SAID MANUALLY MANIPULATABLE MEANS BEING RESTRICTED IN ITSELEMENT OPENING MOVEMENT TO SPACE THE ELEMENTS APART A DISTANCE LESSTHAN THE MAXIMUM VERTICAL HEIGHT OF THE SAC WHEREBY THE ELEMENTS ARECAPTIVELY RETAINED BETWEEN THE INSIDE SURFACES OF THE LIPS AND THEMAXIMUM VERTICAL HEIGHT OF THE SAC, AND A SOUNDMAKER HAVING A SOUNDPASSAGEWAY CONNECTED TO A PORTION OF THE INTERIOR OF THE BULBOUS SAC SACREARWARDLY OF THE OPEN END OF THE SAC.